Antibacterial activity of the combination of Mentha spicata and Allium sativum extracts on the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease with a high mortality rate in the world, including in Indonesia. In addition, the problem of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to antibiotics is getting higher. Mint leaves and garlic have been shown its the ability to kill M. tuberculosis. However, it has never been studied how the combined effect the M. tuberculosis growth. Objective: The major objective of this study was to investigate the anti-mycobacterial activity of mint leavesgarlic combination to growth inhibition of clinical culture M. tuberculosis. Method: Extraction of mint leaves and garlic was carried out by maceration using ethanol as a solvent. M. tuberculosis cultures were obtained from clinical samples of patients diagnosed with new tuberculosis (TBB) and MDRtuberculosis (TBB). The growth inhibition activity test was carried out using the agar dilution method on Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) media. Results: Mint and garlic extracts, and their combination can inhibit the growth of M. tuberculosis clinical culture from TBB and TBM patients with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 3 mg/mL. Conclusion: Mint and garlic extracts, and their combination are effective in inhibiting the growth of M. tuberculosis clinical culture and can be used as an alternative treatment for tuberculosis disease